My Little Pony: The Thousand Year Door
by TheFandomizer316
Summary: Princess Twilight Sparkle gets a mysterious map from her mentor, Princess Celestia, telling about an ancient treasure. When Twilight goes to check it out, she finds Princess Celestia has gone missing, so she meets up with seven new friends and stops a large threat to Equestria to find her and the treasure. This story takes place in an AU. Based off the original Paper Mario game.
1. Introduction

My Little Pony: The Thousand Year Door - Introduction

Summary: Princess Twilight Sparkle gets a mysterious map from her mentor, Princess Celestia, telling about an ancient treasure. When Twilight goes to check it out, she finds Princess Celestia has gone missing, so she meets up with seven new friends and stops a large threat to Equestria to find her and the treasure. This story takes place in an AU.

In a colorful tree shaped castle in Ponyville, a lavender alicorn gathered the attention of all the fillies and colts in front of her, including her best friends. All heads turned to this alicorn, the pegasi lowered to the ground, and one pink pony shouted out "ATTEEEEENTION!"

The lavender pony gestured a hoof, telling the pink pony to sit down. She looked at the book on the platform in front of her and, after clearing her throat, began to speak. "Alright, fillies and gentlecolts, today, I'm going to tell you all the story of the Thousand Year Door."

"An awfully long time ago, in a strange and far-off land in Equestria, a big, buslting town thrived." The alicorn's horn lit up and a magenta aura surrounded the cover of the book as she opened it. "It was a town where all the ponies lived very happy lives. And it was said that the town was very prosperous. But one day, tragedy befell this blessed place. A great cataclysm struck the town and its ponyfolk."

The crowd of young ponies "ooh"-ed at that moment. The page turned and the light purple pony continued to read. "Darkness filled the skies, and the earth roared and shook. It was as if the very world had come to a violent end. And in but a single night, the town sank into the depths of Equestria."

The crowd gasped. Another page was turned. "Many moons passed. Stories of the town passed into the pages of fairy tales. And when the town's site no longer held relics of its past, ponies gathered at that spot and built a new town." Turning yet another page, the pony read, "But word soon spread among anypony who moved in that an ancient city lay deep underground and that a magnificent treasure rested there."

A yellow filly who wore a pink bow in her red mane commented on how this story sounded quite familiar. The alicorn overheard her and said, "Yes, this is the story of the fabled treasure of Rogueport*." She turned one more page. "This is where it begins, in the sea town of Rogueport."

The pink pony from before started to get excited as a squeal came out of her mouth. Her favorite part was coming up. "The tale of the quest for the legendary treasure and the Thousand Year Door...starts here!"

"YES!"

The scene transitioned to what looked like a run-down town. Old buildings and wall grafiti filled this place. A bunch of trouble-making looking ponies trotted back and forth all over the town. In the middle of it all, a tall, white alicorn with a colorful flowing mane walked to the center of town. She talked to herself, talking about her younger sister, Luna, and how she separated from her to a different area of this town, despite Luna warning her about all the trouble around. She didn't listen to Luna and said she wanted to take a look around the place and see what all there was too see. She looked around, saying, "Now that I'm here, I see this town has a rather...distinct flavor..."

Suddenly, a female voice spoke. "Oh, Missy... Missy..."

The alicorn, known as Princess Celestia, turned to the source of the sound, asking, "Do you mean...me?"

She trotted towards a hooded pony, who had a bunch of expensive looking things in front of her. "Yes, you, Missy. Won't you buy something? I have a wide assortment of knicknacks and doodads!"

Princess Celestia looked down at all the products. Nothing seemed to catch her fancy until she saw a small box. She moved closer and lowered her head a little. "That's a pretty box. What's inside of it?"

A yellow aura surrounded the box as the hooded mare picked it up with her unicorn magic. She explained that a map that shows the location of a legendary treasure was inside. She then said that the box had a magic lock on it and only one with a pure, noble heart could unlock it. She showed that she couldn't open it and Celestia showed a slight frown. This hooded mare said to the princess that if the box opened for her, she could have what's inside. The yellow aura around the box was replaced by a lighter yellow aura, indicating that Celestia took it. She tried to open it and, to her surprise, it opened as a light shined from inside.

Somewhere, in Canterlot, a gray pegasus pony flew down to a house and dropped something in its mailbox. "Mail call!" She called out as she flew off. Hearing her voice, a white unicorn stallion trotted outside the home and retrieved what she left in the mailbox. Returning inside, he called out to his younger sister, Twilight Sparkle, saying the letter was for her. A lavender alicorn came into the room. She looked at the letter. "It's from Princess Celestia!" She said. Her brother, Shining Armor, offered to read it to her. She nodded, and he began to read.

"My faithful student, Twilight, Princess Luna and I are on holiday, traveling in Equestria. In our travels, I came into possession of a mystical map. It's actually a treasure map. It was inside a box I got from a merchant in a town called Rogueport. But, since I figured it would be too difficult for me to go find treasure all by myself, I thought that you could come with me and we can both hunt for it! Will you join me? I have included the map with this letter, so please make sure to bring it with you when you come. I'll meet you at Rogueport (That means you MUST come!) - Princess Celestia"

Twilight was intriguied. Shining Armor told her that a there, indeed, was a map with the letter and he handed the map to Twilight. She observed the map and, without further ado, prepared to head out and meet up with her mentor.

And thus, Twilight Sparkle's journey started.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, how do you like it so far? I apologize for almost copying the exact intro. I promise that as the story goes on, the dialogue will be spoken in my own words. Please favorite, comment, all that good stuff! Stay tuned for the Prologue!

*I am unable to come up with pony names for these towns. Unless I just absolutely know what could fit, these location names will stay the same (Ex. Rogueport, Boggly Woods (Boggly Everfree Woods could work, I guess, but we really don't need two Everfree's), Glitzville, etc.)


	2. Prologue: A Rogue's Welcome

My Little Pony: The Thousand Year Door - Prologue

Summary: Princess Twilight Sparkle gets a mysterious map from her mentor, Princess Celestia, telling about an ancient treasure. When Twilight goes to check it out, she finds Princess Celestia has gone missing, so she meets up with seven new friends and stops a large threat to Equestria to find her and the treasure. This story takes place in an AU.

PROLOGUE: A ROGUE'S WELCOME

"Excuse me... Ma'am?"

There was total silence, except for Twilight Sparkle snoring and the rocking of the boat she was in. The pony driving the boat tapped her shoulder again. "Please wake up, ma'am! The town you've been talking about has come into view! Look! Over there is Rogueport!"

Twilight slowly opened her eyes. She saw the town in the distance. She smiled. "You see?" Said the boat driver. "We'll be there soon. Please prepare to disembark."

oOOo

Over by the dock of Rogueport, the large boat arrived. "I have to apologize, ma'am. Our arrival got delayed a bit by some rough weather."

"It's no trouble."

"Are you quite sure you want to disembark here? I did tell you all about Rogueport on the way, did I not?"

"Yes you did. But, you see, my mentor, Princess Celestia, is waiting for me here."

The boat driver's eyes widened. "Wait, what's that? You say there's a princess waiting for you? And she's your mentor?"

"Yes, sir."

"Is that so? Um... Of course, ma'am. If that's what you think, I won't stop you. But, uh... do be careful. Don't say I didn't warn you about this place!"

Twilight got off the boat and it turned around once she stepped onto the dock. As soon as it left, Twilight trotted around the place. One pirate pony greeted her. "Welcome to Rogueport! You got some guts comin' to this nasty place!"

"It does give me a bit of a bad feeling."

"Yeah, there's criminals and thieves and..."

Suddenly, there was an interruption. "Hey! What do ya want from me, you varmints?! Get away from me!" Yelled a female voice with a country accent.

A couple of ponies, plus Twilight looked over to see an orange earth pony with a yellow mane tied into a ponytail and wearing a greenish-gray helmet and a red scarf around her neck back away from a gold-orange unicorn, who had red and yellow hair and an angry look on her face. Behind her were two earth ponies, both of which had a crystal shine in their eyes.

"Oh, come off it, you airhead!" The unicorn yelled. " I know it must be tough for you, but don't play dumb with me! I saw you walking around town asking everypony about the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart! So now I'm doing the asking. You tell me what you know right. NOW!"

The orange earth pony shook her head quickly. "Never! Ah ain't got nothin' for you creeps!"

"I suppose it wouldn't be right if somepony like you met with an untimely end..." The gold unicorn let out an evil laugh. "Girls, we're taking this mare to our fortress!"

"You got it, Sunset Shimmer! We're on it!" Said one of the ponies behind Sunset.

As soon as the three got closer to the orange mare, she backed away even farther. "No! Y'all better stop right there!"

Twilight swiftly pushed her way through the small crowd and reached the other pony to defend her. The earth pony immediately trotted behind Twilight and said "Like Ah would go anywhere with you filthy varmints! Likely story!"

Sunset Shimmer looked surprised for a second. "Huh? What do you think YOU'RE doing? Think you can just mess up my plans?!"

Twilight said nothing. Sunset sighed. "It's always something... Looks like I'm going to have to take you down!"

Sunset Shimmer ran towards Twilight Sparkle, getting ready to attack her, when she used a bit of magic to defend herself and attack her back first. The gold unicorn was shot back a little ways. "Nice shot, Miss!" The country accented pony cheered.

Sunset didn't stop there, though. She shot an aquamarine colored burst of magic at Twilight, which she easily avoided. Twilight's turn to attack again. She prepared to shoot her own magenta magic at the unicorn, but then that unicorn shot her magic again and magic bursts touched. The magic went back and forth, Sunset's almost touching Twilight, and Twilight's almost touching Sunset. Soon enough, Twilight's magic overpowered Sunset's, and the gold-orange unicorn flew back against the wall in defeat. "Hoo-WEE! You got 'er!"

Sunset Shimmer quickly got back up and soon approached Twilight, who readied her magic in case she decided to strike again. "Hmph! Okay, so you got some good shots in, I'll give you that. But, unfortunately for you, this means..."

Sunset started to shout, "IT'S GO TIME!"

Then a horde of crystal-y ponies galloped to the group, surrounding them. "GET HER!"

Twilight let out a yelp as all the ponies began attacking her. Luckily, in a matter of seconds, the orange earth pony emerged from the horde. "Over this way! Quick!" She called out.

The lavender alicorn inconspicuously snuck out unharmed. The two ponies quickly and quietly trotted away.

Sunset Shimmer soon realized that a certain somepony wasn't in the middle of this mess. She commanded everypony to stop. She looked around and asked one pony, named Amberlocks, if she saw those other two ponies. She shook her head. Sunset asked if anyone saw them. All she got was a bunch of "No"s in reply. Sunset groaned. "Augh! They got away!"

oOOo

Meanwhile, the two escapees reached the center of the town. The orange mare thanked Twilight for saving her. "Ah'm Applejack. You can call me AJ. Ah'm a college student over at Macintosh University*. Ah'm also a cowpony who lives at Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville. Good to meet ya! So, what's yer name, partner?"

Twilight introduced herself. Applejack soon realized something. "Twilight Sparkle? Wait, are you Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship?"

Said princess opened her fancy wings slightly then nodded awkwardly as she closed her wings. "That's cool. So, uh, no offense, Sugarcube, but it looks like you just came to town yerself, right?"

"Yes."

AJ sighed. "Me, Ah already DON'T CARE for this place! Everywhere you turn, there's criminals and thievin' varmints! Ah mean, Ah should've expected it from a place called Rogueport, but Whoo Nelly! If there weren't some kind of legendary treasure here, striking me curious, Ah'd never have come here!"

"Wait... I'm looking for that treasure too!"

"What? Really?"

Twilight nodded. AJ noticed something sticking out of Twilight's saddlebag. "Hang on, Sugarcube... What'cha got there?"

"Oh, this?" Twilight pulled out her map with her magic.

AJ gasped. "Tarnation! Is that a treasure map?! Where'd ya get that from?"

"My mentor, Princess Celestia, sent me this map." replied the alicorn as she put her map away.

"Princess Celestia?"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle!" A new voice called out. Twilight and AJ turned their attention to another alicorn. This new alicorn was a deep blue and had a flowing mane of different shades of blue and purple. She had a white moon as a cutie mark on her black splotched flank. "Quite the coincidence that we must see each other in a place like this."

"Princess Luna!" Said Twilight with a smile.

"What brings you to this distasteful town?"

"Princess Celestia sent me a treasure map and asked me to come meet her here."

"How intriguing..."

"Do you know where she is?"

"I was just about to ask you that, Princess. We stopped here for a moment to fuel our ship. I turned away from my sister for one second, and when I looked back, she was gone."

Twilight gasped.

"I assumed she would return momentarily. But as of now, I fear that she may never return. I worry about her. I have warned her about this place. But with you here, I feel better about this situation. Perhaps we can find her. But I must leave this task to you, Princess. I'm afraid I have important royal duties to attend to. If you need me, I shall be at the inn over there. I highly recommend you rest there if you grow weary."

After all that, Princess Luna trotted to the inn and entered.

"So, the Princess of Equestria's gone missin' then, huh? Where could she have gone? You think maybe she got tired of waiting and went to go look for that treasure on her own?" AJ asked.

Twilight thought for a bit until Applejack spoke up again. "Oh! Ah got an idea, Twilight! Come with me! One of mah professors is here researchin' the treasure. We can show her your map! If we start lookin' for the treasure, maybe we'll find Princess Celestia!"

Twilight perked up. "Great idea, AJ!"

"Great! Let's go, Twilight!"

Applejack joined Twilight Sparkle's team!

"So, first off, let's go find mah professor, Cheerilee. Thing is, since Ah just got here myself, Ah don't really know where she lives."

"Well, then, let's go look around for her."

So the two mares started their search for Cheeriliee, with Twilight leading the way. She decided to go west first.

"FREEZE!" Screamed a mare's voice.

The duo stopped right in their tracks. A yellow earth pony with green hair stood in front of them and she looked frustrated. "Not another step, you two! Some JERK bumped into me and I lost a contact lens! I'm looking for it right now, so DON'T YOU DARE MOVE! Got it? I mean it! Do NOT move an INCH!"

As the angry pony kept looking around for her contact lens, Applejack said, "Well, Ah didn't know cousin Apple Fritter would be here. Best be careful, Twi. If you anger her even more than she is now, she'll make you pay."

"Yikes."

Twilight and Applejack waited for a bit. After a while, it seemed as though Apple Fritter had no luck finding her contact lens. "We can't wait here much longer..." Twilight murmured to AJ. "Maybe if I try to fly off the ground and use my levetation spell on you, maybe we can move without causing a problem."

"Ah guess it's worth a shot..."

So the princess readied her magic and spread out her wings. Her magenta magic surrounded her new friend. She got ready to lift her and herself, but when she moved her hoof slightly...

*Squitch!*

"Oh no..."

"Shoot...!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" An enraged Apple Fritter screamed. "YOU BUMBLING IDIOT! You stepped on my contact lens! I told you NOT TO MOVE! Don't you ever listen?! What were you THINKING?!"

She swiftly approached Twilight, who muttered out an "Uh..."

"This is your fault! I need a new contact lens and YOU'RE gonna pay for it! Compensate me, Ms. Clumsy!"

Twilight didn't answer. The furious mare ran to the entrance to the west side of Rogueport. "Until you buy me a new lens, I'm blocking this gate!"

Twilight sighed. "Looks like we're going to have to go buy one."

The duo entered a shop by the inn. The two shopkeeper ponies who worked there greeted them. The princess looked at the shop's wares, but didn't find a contact lens. She asked a shopkeeper if they had any in stock. They didn't, much to her dissapointment. After they said they'd special-order one for her, she left the shop, thanking the shopkeepers.

"Well, let's go east to look for your Professor Cheerilee."

As soon as the two went east, a griffon zipped past Twilight, stealing something from her.

"Whoops! Pardon me, sucker!"

She spun around and saw stars when she stopped spinning.

Applejack shouted out to the jerk. "WHAT IN TARNATION IS YER PROBLEM, YA JERK?!" She then turned to her friend. "Twilight, you know what he just did? He stole half o'your bits!"

"What?!"

"Ah wouldn't recommend trackin' him down. You might never find him or if ya do, he ain't givin' your money back."

"Well, luckily I have plenty of bits if we need them."

The light purple alicorn dismissed the conversation and headed towards the second of two houses, hoping Professor Cheerilee would be inside. Once she and AJ entered, the latter stepped forward. "There ya are! Howdy, Professor Cheerilee!"

"Huh?" A deep magenta pony stopped reading her book and turned her head towards the source of the voice. "Who's there?"

"It's me, Applejack!"

"Ah, yes! And the alicorn mare behind you...?"

Twilight pointed her hoof towards herself and smiled.

"WHO?!"

Twilight frowned.

"That there's Princess Twilight Sparkle. The Princess of Friendship!"

Twilight blushed. She then said that she could just be called 'Twilight'.

"Oh! I must apologize. I study so much, I don't really pay attention to these things. Anyways, What brings you two to a place such as this?"

Twilight Sparkle stepped up. "We were hoping you could tell us about the legendary treasure that's said to be down below Rogueport! Applejack thought that if anypony knew anything about it, you would."

"Well, of course I know about it. That's the very reason I came here. To study that subject. But why do you girls want to learn about it? They say it's more than just a fairy tale, you know?"

"Archaeologists and historians have to search for the truth in those fairy tales, though. We believe that the legendary treasure truly exists."

"And we really want to find it!" Said AJ.

"Good point! In that case, I'll help in any way I can. So, first of all, about the treasure... There are many mysteries surrounding it. Some say it's an infinitely vast treasure hoard, while others say it's a magic Equestrian relic. Some books say it's actually a monster, while others claim it to be an empty chest. So many different theories... It's obviously impossible to divine the truth. But all agree on one point: to find the treasure, one must have the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart!"

"'To find the treasure of yore, take the seven Relics of Friendship to the Thousand Year Door!'" Twilight quoted.

"You mean the Elements and Heart in that old saying that elderly ponies pass down?" AJ asked.

"Yes, indeed. As the saying goes, if you want to find the treasure, you first must collect the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart."

"'Hold the Magical Map aloft before the entrance to the Thousand Year Door. Then the relics will light the way that leads to the stones of yesterday.'" Twilight quoted again. "A lot of the lore I read says that if this Magical Map is taken to the doorway, then it will show where to find these relics!"

"That's correct, Twilight! And, supposedly, the Thousand Year Door is deep beneath this town. But... the important piece of this puzzle, the Magical Map, is lost. If only we had it..."

Applejack spoke up. "Wait! Professor Cheerilee, we DO have it! Well, not "we," exactly. TWILIGHT has the Magical Map!"

"WHAAAT?" Cheerilee gasped. "R-Really?! You actually have it? If you don't mind, could I take a look at it?"

Twilight nodded and levitated the map with her magic, handing it to Professor Cheerliee. Once she got a good look at it, she said excitedly, "Astounding! This is it, right here! The real Magical Map!"

The lavender princess put the map back in her saddlebag as the professor commented, "You are my HERO! You're great! Fantastic! Even WONDERFUL! With this, we can find the Elements and Heart just by holding this up before the door!"

"Right on, Professor!" Applejack beamed.

"Sweet Celestia, what are we doing just standing here, then?! Applejack, Twilight! Off we must go, immediately! Let's take the map to the legendary door!"

With Twilight leading the way, the trio took off. When they exited Cheerilee's place, she trotted to a fence. "I bet you didn't know this came off, did you?" Once she touched a part of the fence, it broke off. She then trotted towards a pipe. "We can use this pipe to get down under the city streets! Let's get going, both of you!"

The alicorn and earth pony followed suit. the three entered the pipe and they reached the sewers of Rogueport.

Twilight started to lead again, with Applejack behind her and Professor Cheerilee behind Applejack. They trotted down a small flight of stairs. As they traveled up some more stairs and turned the corner and rode a floating platform to the other side, Cheerilee warned the princess about any enemies lurking around, such as Changelings, bad ponies, and other creatures of chaos. She told them about attacking these enemies with Twilight's magic, Applejack's bucking, and even using items.

Soon enough, the trio reached the bottom area of the ruined underground city. They activated a switch that caused a larger set of stairs to appear. They climbed up them and met with a ledge. Across from it was another ledge with a door leading to another room. Twilight Sparkle asked AJ and Cheerilee to stand by her so that she would be in between them. Once they did, she used her alicorn magic and teleported the three of them to the other side.

"Impressive!" Said Cheerilee.

"I've been studying magic since I was a filly. Something tells me I'll be using that spell a lot."

As soon as the three entered this new room, they saw ancient ruins and a pedestal in the middle of the room. There was also a large red door, which Cheerilee immediately noticed. "Oh! Twilight! Applejack! Look...at...THAT!"

Twi and AJ gasped.

"It's the Thousand Year Door spoken of in the legends! I can't believe it! It's real!"

"So the legends are true!" the orange earth mare spoke.

"Let's all get a closer look!" Chimed Twilight.

They trotted forth and towards the door of Equestrian legend. When they got near the pedestal, Applejack asked about the strange pedestal. Twilight stepped onto the center of it. As soon as she did, bright blue lights shined around her, forming two circles with seven inner circles in the bigger one, indicating that somethings were supposed to go there.

"What the hay is goin' on?"

Twilight's map floated up into the air for a moment. As it did, a corner of the map sparkled and a castle appeared right on it. Then a pink, rupee shaped gem popped up.

A few more lights shined and Twilight felt power surge through her. It was as if she just learned a special move.

The Magical Map floated back down to the princess and she grabbed it with her magic. The blue lights ceased. The two earth ponies hopped up to her level and they looked at the map. "Did you see that, Professor?!" Asked AJ. "What was with them lights?"

"It seems as though information related to the locations of the Relics of Friendship have appeared. And the light... It looked as if a mysterious power was given to Twilight... Well, one way or another, let's return to my place and get a good look at the map."

oOOo

"Hmm... Ah HA! I see!"

"So ya understand, Professor?" Questioned Applejack.

"Of course I do! First of all, about the light that shined on Twilight Sparkle... By my reckoning, she can now perform a special move."

"A special move?"

"A new and advanced spell that only the chosen Princess of Friendship can wield." Twilight explained.

"Well, hey! That's you!"

"And when you and Applejack are fighting, some ponies who happen to be there at the time will watch you fight. If you do a good job and appeal to your crowd, your power will build up! Your crowds may even get bigger as you progress."

"Well, ain't that nice?"

"The special move Twilight just learned is called 'Sweet Treat'. It will replenish your energy and magic.**"

"Well, that'll probably be mighty useful!"

"Now, let's have a look at the map ans see what we need to know about the..." Cheerilee suddenly grew amazed. "ASTOUNDING!"

"What?"

"What is it?"

"This map has radar-like functions! It's showing the location of one of the Elements of Harmony! Looks as though the Element of Kindness is to be found in a place called the Petal Meadows."

"Petal Meadows?" Asked AJ.

"Yes. This area is a vast meadow that lies far to the east of Rogueport. To tell the truth, I've always thought that place was a bit suspicious. In my research, the name Petal Meadows came up from time to time."

"Okay, so we'll be goin' there. Do y'all know how to get there?"

"Somewhere beneath the city is a pipe that goes there. If you could find that, you'd get there in an instant." Cheerilee closed her book, then asked Twilight where she got the Magical Map.

"My teacher, Princess Celestia sent it to me."

"Really? Would this be her?" She asked, showing Twilight the princess's picture from a book.

"That's her!"

"So it IS her! Your mentor came to see me the other day. She wanted to learn about the treasure too. I told her about the Relics of Friendship and my suspicions about Petal Meadows. It doesn't seem very likely, but maybe she tried to go there on her own."

"Ya know..." AJ started. "Ah ran into another suspicious group, and they were asking 'bout the same thing."

"Hmm... I can't imagine Princess Celestia getting involved with THEM..." Cheerilee pondered, then said to the duo, "All right! It's settled then! Off you two go to Petal Meadows! If Princess Celestia did go there, your first priority is to go catch up to her. Collecting the Relics of Friendship is a means to an end, and that end is Princess Celestia!"

She handed the map to the alicorn as se put it away in her saddlebags. "Aren't ya gonna come with us?" Applejack questioned.

"No, I'll stay here and ask around about the princess and that suspicious gang. If anything happens and you need advice, come see me, okay?"

"Alrighty, Professor Cheerilee! Let's go, Twi!"

The two protagonists then left the house. As soon as they did, though, Cheerilee came out again, but she was holding a small object shaped like a unicorn horn casting a powerful spell. "I almost forgot to give you this. Please take it. It's a badge, and it is really helpful."

"Thank you." Said Twilight, taking the badge.

"You see, depending on the badges you equip, you'll become more powerful. The important thing is knowing what the effects will be when you equip a badge. Well, I hope you find the pipe to Petal Meadows. Good luck!"

After Twilight equipped her new badge, she and her friend traveled down the pipe to beneath the city. They went down and up the sets of stairs, but instead of turning the corner and riding the floating platform to the other side, they decided to go across to the other side from a ledge. Twilight used her teleportation spell and they made it across. In the next room, there were two moving platforms floating on the water. Across from them was a pipe. "Ya think that's the pipe to Petal Meadows, Twi?"

"I think it is! Let's go across!"

Timing their jumps, the duo made it to the other side and they entered the pipe.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, there's the prologue! I am SO sorry for repeating the names "Twilight", "AJ", and "Cheerilee" like that. I'm trying to call them by other things in my story, though you might still see some repetitive-ness (that's not even a word, I don't think, lol). I'll try to get better at writing this story, even if I have a short attention span and my concentration keeps breaking and I keep taking breaks (I can never sit still for a long time). Hope you enjoyed, hope you keep enjoying, and stay tuned for chapter 1!

*Yeeeeaaah, that's what I could come up with. It's Applejack, okay? I had to replace "University of Goom" with something apple related.

**HP, FP, and SP are changed (and BP is removed) to make this adventure sound more realistic-ish.


	3. Chapter 1: Castle and Dragonshy Part 1

My Little Pony: The Thousand Year Door - Chapter 1 Part 1

Summary: Princess Twilight Sparkle gets a mysterious map from her mentor, Princess Celestia, telling about an ancient treasure. When Twilight goes to check it out, she finds Princess Celestia has gone missing, so she meets up with seven new friends and stops a large threat to Equestria to find her and the treasure. This story takes place in an AU.

CHAPTER 1: CASTLE AND DRAGONSHY

Princess Twilight Sparkle and her new companion, Applejack, emerged from the pipe to Petal Meadows, where they were greeted by a beautiful meadow. "Well, here we are!" AJ spoke up. "The Petal Meadows, where ponyfolk says the Element of Kindness hides. Yee-haw! Let's go, Twilight!"

The girls immediately trotted forth. They soon stopped dead in their tracks when they heard a loud roar. The princess and earth pony looked up as a huge shadow loomed over them and away. "What in tarnation was THAT?!" Applejack questioned with surprise in her voice. She looked to her left and called out to Twi, "Wait, is that a... Whoa Nelly! Twilight! Look!"

Twilight looked in AJ's direction and saw a red dragon fly to a blue castle. "Incredible...!" She said.

"Ah've never seen anythin' that huge before! It looked purty scary too."

"That's strange. Professor Cheerilee said that this place was peaceful..."

"Ah know! This is crazy! We just started, and there's already stuff goin' on! Let's get goin'!"

AJ and Twilight passed by some rocks, three of them being slightly different. The one in the middle was shaped like a pedestal, one of the two larger rocks had a moon shaped hole on it and the other had a sun shaped hole. Twilight paused and pondered about those rocks for a second. Seeing as how they did nothing and she didn't have anything in her possession to do anything to them, she figured she would have to deal with them later. As she and her cohort trekked on, they found a Close Call badge, which Twilight equipped, they found some extra bits so Twilight would have some more money since that griffon stole half of it, and they came across what looked like a dead end. There was a gap in the middle of the path with a river in it. The two figured there used to be a bridge there. The princess figured there must be something they could find to get across besides teleporting (that could get tiring after awhile, even for Twilight). Applejack poked around some bushes and found a switch. She pressed down on it and a red bridge came into place. Twilight commented on AJ's good find and they crossed the bridge. They passed a gate that took them to a lovely village, where they were greeted by a pink unicorn with colorful pastel hair and a strawberry cutie mark. "Welcome travelers!"

"Good day to you! What is this place?" Asked Twilight.

"Where are you? Why, this is the village of Petalburg!" The unicorn placed her right forehoof on her left foreleg and looked away shyly. "Sorry, but it's been forever since we had visitors here. We're a rather remote place."

The alicorn and earth ponies cocked their heads in confusion and curiosity.

This unicorn, named Holly Dash, explained, "Yep, once that dragon, Hooktail, was spotted flying around here... Well, to put it this way, it didn't help tourism. Ponies just stopped coming here."

Applejack stepped up, "Dragon? Hooktail? Hey, Twilight, that must've been that humongous thing we saw earlier! So anyways, ma'am, have you heard of these Relics of Friendship known as the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart? We're lookin' for 'em. It's very important!"

Holly Dash thought for a second and told them that she didn't know about them. Then she suggested they speak with the town's mayor, Granny Smith. "The mayor lives in that pink house up ahead. You should go check it out." She said.

"Granny Smith's here? In a pink house?" AJ asked. "Well, it should be easy to find."

Twilight nodded and thanked Holly Dash for her help. She and AJ moved forward. On the way, they bought a few items from the shop and Applejack told Twilight about her smart and wise grandmother. They reached another area of Petalburg and spotted a pink house. "That must be the place!" AJ commented.

"Let's go inside."

Twilight Sparkle knocked on the red door and a "HUH?" was heard from the other side.

"Ooh, Ah must tell ya, Twi. Mah Granny Smith's been rather forgetful as of late. Ah wonder if she still remembers me..."

Applejack opened the door to her granny's house and the duo approached her.

Twilight started off the conversation with the light green, elderly pony. "Excuse me? Mayor... Granny Smith?"

"Hmm? Whuzzat? Somepony there? Who is it? WHO?! What do ya want from me?"

"I-I'm-"

"Ah know! Yer thieves! Here to rob a defenseless old mare! Despicable!"

"What?! No!"

"Naw, go on, do what ya will, but as you can see, there ain't nuttin' to steal here. Oh, Ah guess Ah have some bits... Take it, ya fiends! But leave them photos of me and mah grandfoals. Can't do without those memories..."

Applejack finally corrected the mare, saying loud and clear that they were not thieves.

"What? Not thieves, ya say?" Asked Granny Smith as AJ and Twi shook their heads in response.

"Well then, what's yer story? Wait, you youngsters looking for them Relics of Friendship?"

The lavender pony nodded.

"Well, why didn't ya say so before? So, the Elements of Harmony and Crystal Heart yer looking for... What'd Ah hear 'bout them dern things again?"

The mayor pondered for a second, then explained to the ponies, "Aha! Got it! Hooktail! That dragon, Hooktail's got what ya want! They say it's this enormous and ornery dragon that eats ponyfolk. You know it, right?"

"Of course!" Twilight responded.

"We may have heard the name." Said AJ.

"Well, this here Hooktail's brutal fly-by snackings have us all on pins and needles." Said the old mare. She then asked, "Are you reckless fools... Ah mean, gallant heroines off to fight it off?"

"You got it!" the other two ponies replied.

"This DOES sound promisin'!" Granny beamed. "Why, if you can git rid of Hooktail, we'll shower you with gratitude and rewards."

The heroines smiled. Applejack's grandma thought she heard them say something, so she questioned, "What's that Ah hear? Y'all won't accept no reward?"

Twilight and AJ were confused. They didn't say anything about that. That's when the former replied with, "Uh... I guess not."

"Such an unselfish mare! Yer noble, indeed..." The senile mare then asked the princess what her name was.

She introduced herself, but Granny heard something else. "Twinkle Star? That be a fine name. Well now, Twinkle..."

Before Granny could continue, the two corrected her.

"It's "Twilight Sparkle"."

"The name is "Twilight Sparkle"."

The elder mare thought they spouted off with a compliment about her eyebrows, which she thanked them, then told them to listen up. She told them to find the secret pipe near the village that would gain them access to the castle. To use the pipe, they needed stone keys, objects located in a place called "Shhwonk Fortress". The princess and country student nodded, indicating that they got the message.

The ponies said their goodbyes and Twilight and AJ left the house. Once they did, three giggling fillies approached them. "Hey! Applejack! Applejack!" One called out.

"Why, Apple Bloom! Howdy! Never thought I'd see you, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo here!"

Apple Bloom, the yellow earth filly with a red mane wearing a pink bow, said to her older sister, "It's us, the wandering cutie mark hunters, the Cutie Mark Crusaders*!"

Then came Sweetie Belle, the white unicorn filly with a pink and lavender mane. She said, "This village is famous for the clear water, clean air, and..."

"That big, bad Hooktail!" Said Scootaloo, the orange pegasus filly with pink-purple hair. "We can't wait to see it!"

Applejack chuckled nervously about that Hooktail comment. "Well, you three stay safe, okay? I don't want you three gettin' in trouble, y'hear?"

"Will do, sis! See ya later!" And with that, they trio left.

Applejack explained to her new friend about her little sister and her friends a bit as they got to the village gatekeeper, Forsythia, a bluish-purple unicorn with a lime-green mane**.

Twilight got Forsythia's attention and Forsythia said, "An old stronghold called Shhwonk Fortress lies ahead. A stone pony lives there. At least, it MIGHT live there. My job is to guard the gate to keep it out."

"Mayor Granny Smith said we could go. We need to get there anyhow." Said AJ.

"Is that so? Well, if she said it was okay, I'll let you pass by. Just be careful!"

Forsythia used her light blue colored magic and opened the gate for the ponies. As she did, a voice was heard from behind. "Umm... Excuse me!" The two were about to leave when the voice got louder, getting their attention. "Uh... I beg your pardon! PLEASE! Wait a moment!"

Twi and Applejack turned and saw a light yellow pegasus pony with a short pink mane. Her left eye was halfway shut and she had a brown bandage on her nose, indicating that she recently got into a fight and lost. "Sorry for yelling like that... I was panicking." She dug her left hoof at the ground a bit, trying to think. "Um... How do I begin?"

"I-I'm... F-Fluttershy." She spoke shyly. "I heard you're going to Hooktail's castle. So, anyway, I... I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?" Questioned Twilight, though she didn't get a response from this new pony. Just a long, awkward silence. "Well?"

"Well... Ummmm..." Fluttershy gave up on what she was going to say. "Oh, just... Just forget it. Never mind. Ignore me. Good... G-Goodbye."

Fluttershy ran off, leaving Twilight and AJ confused. They shrugged it off and moved on towards the fortress. They trotted along the gray path, finding an item that could take down some tough enemies in one fell swoop along the way. They entered the small purpleish-gray part of Shhwonk Fortress. It was empty, save for a couple of pedestals with rocks resembling pony skulls sitting on them. They were clefts. The two headed for the exit, but it was locked. There appeared to be no way to open it, until Twilight figured that the only way through was to get rid of the clefts. The rock monsters hopped off their posts and ran to Twilight. She briefly explained to her friend about the clefts and how they were impervious to fire and most magic spells. Luckily, she used that item she found on the way here on them, stopping them dead in their tracks and defeating them. That did it! The metal bars lifted up from their place and the lavender princess and her orange friend exited. The path they trotted on went from gray to pink as they entered another part of the ancient castle. It was the same as the last one, except it was pink and had two spiky enemies resting on the pedestals. The way to get out of this one was the same as before. Take out the bad guys. These enemies, Twilight explained, were also fire and magic proof. Good thing she bought another one of those one-hit-and-they're-dead items! She used it and they were gone, which opened the exit.

Twilight Sparkle and Applejack left the second part of Shhwonk Fortress and entered the next, which was greenish-yellow in color. This area looked different, as there were no pedestals with tough enemies on them. Instead, there sat a statue of a pony's head at the end of the area. There were no signs of stone keys, so it looked as though the two had to do something with this statue. They neared it and the place shook, startling them. The pony bust suddenly opened its eyes. "Mmmm hmmm hoo ha ha! You're the first contestants I've seen in a while." It said with a gruff voice.

"Contestants?" Asked AJ.

"If you've come all the way here to Shhwonk Fortress, you must want stone keys. And if THAT'S the case, you must compete against me. If you win, I'll let you through to where the stone keys rest. However, if you lose, you will suffer a terrible fate. And by "terrible", I mean awful."

"Okay then! We'll take you on." Said Twilight.

The bust spun around once and said, "Mmmm hmmm hoo ha ha! You're in for it now!"

Suddenly, the whole place turned into a flashy game show room, complete with Twilight and AJ standing on a podium with a buzzer in front of them and the bust statue now wore a red bowtie with white polka-dots. It spoke into the microphone in front of it, "Hey HEY, fillies and germs! Welcome, everypony, to the 65th Super Fun Quirk Quiz!"

"So that's he meant when he called us contestants..." AJ whispered to the lavender alicorn.

"Perk up those ears! If you correctly answer five of the following questions, you win! But get three of them wrong, and you'll suffer an unusual and cruel punishment!"

A sound played as the statue got ready to ask the first question. "What's hidden in this place?"

Twilight hit the buzzer and answered. "Stone Keys!"

"Is that your REAL answer? Are you suuuuuuuuure?"

"Yes!"

The sound for a correct answer played and the bust spun around again. "AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! That's...correct!"

The heroines could tell THIS guy was a sore loser.

Question two was asked. "What is the name of the mayor of Petalburg?"

Applejack pressed the buzzer. "Granny Smith!"

Another answer was right, which upset the statue more. The third question was asked. "Where is the Element of Kindness?"

"Hooktail Castle!" Twi and AJ answered in unison. They were on a roll! But then again, these questions were easy.

"We're not done yet, folks!" Said the bust. "Question four! How can one get from Petal Meadows to Rogueport?"

"Go through a pipe!" Twilight answered.

"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! Right again!" The bust angrily shouted. 4 questions down, 1 to go.

"Are you ready for the diabolical question five?"

The duo nodded and the question was asked. "Which of the four creatures don't have hooves?"

Out of the four choices, Changelings, Parasprites, Breezies, and Pegasi, parasprites was the right answer and Twilight and AJ won!

Shhwonk Fortress reverted back to normal and the salty statue granted the ponies access to below where the keys lied. They went down the pipe and were greeted by a dark, cold, cramped and stinky sewer-like place. There were two doors to go through. Twilight chose the one in front of them. As they trotted along the way, they spotted a couple of changelings and Twilight picked up and equipped a Multibounce badge. They soon found the sun stone. It was shaped less like the actual sun and more like Princess Celestia's cutie mark. After picking it up, the two had to deal with some changelings that dropped in unexpectedly. They soon defeated the creatures and got away with their first stone.

Next was the moon stone, which had to be on the other side. Twilight and AJ found the moon stone, shaped more like Princess Luna's cutie mark, and dealt with another small set of changelings. They were about to leave Shhwock Fortress with the keys but a gold cheangeling stopped them in their tracks.

It hissed at them and said, "Hey, you suspicious types!"

Twilight gasped. "A golden changeling!"

"This is our place and coming here is rude, rude, RUDE! Sorry, suckers! If you wanted a warm welcome, then that's too bad! Now I will feed off your love for everything you hold dear!"

The pony duo were in another fight. Twilight quickly explained to her pal about this super-rare type of changeling as they tried to take it down.

After a couple of hits, the changeling summoned an enormous horde of normal changelings! It was two against Celestia knows how many.

"Whoo doggies! What do we do now, Twi? There's so many!"

"If we just focus on the gold changeling and take it down, the horde should dissapear along with it."

"Ya really think that'll work?"

"By my calculations, it should."

Applejack and Twilight charged at the leading changeling and bucked at it, knocking any other changeling out of the way. Twilight's idea worked, and the changelings were gone. The duo high-hoofed and exited the fortress.

They traveled all the way back to Petalburg and towards Hooktail Castle, but they were stopped by a familiar yellow pegasus mare. "Ummm... Excuse me..."

"Fluttershy?" Asked the alicorn.

"You're... You're Twilight Sparkle, right? The Princess of Friendship? Look, I... uh... See, the thing is, I've been waiting here hoping to speak with you. I have to ask you something, and you can say no, but I'm going to throw it out there."

Twilight and Applejack approached the timid mare as the earth pony said, "Well, then, spit it out, girl!"

"Ummm... See... I was wondering... Would you..." Fluttershy finally mustered up the courage and yelled out, "OH, PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU TO FIGHT HOOKTAIL! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU!"

The two were surprised.

Fluttershy took a deep breath and returned her voice to normal. "Sorry about that. See... My brother, Zephyr Breeze***, went to fight Hooktail long ago. ...But he never came back."

Twilight cocked her head as Fluttershy explained. "I miss him, of course... I miss him badly. But this isn't just about avenging him. Actually, no... That's not true. Revenge is a big part of it, I guess. But the truth is, I want to finish what Zephyr started. For his sake. For everypony's sake."

Fluttershy turned her head to her right and her mane covered her face. "I... Oh, this is embarrassing... You see, everypony always says I'm a crybaby... A weakling who can hardly fly. But if I can defeat Hooktail... Well, then I won't be those things. I'll be strong, like Zephyr."

The desparate pegasus faced Twilight again. "I know it will be dangerous, but I still want to go! Please, Twilight!"

She looked at the duo with sad, puppy-eyes. The princess pony and country pony talked with each other for a minute, trying to make a desicion. In the end, Twilight accepted and Fluttershy could go with her.

Fluttershy beamed with happiness, thanking Twilight Sparkle.

Fluttershy joined Twilight Sparkle's team!

Twilight, Applejack, and their new partner were about to head for the castle, when a soft voice similar to Fluttershy's called out her name.

They turned around and saw another yellow pegasus mare, though her coat was slightly darker than Fluttershy's and she had moderate cerise hair and eyes. She showed some concern in her face.

"Oh my... Um... Hi, mother... Did you overhear all that?"

Well, part of it. Fluttershy... I thought I heard you say you're going to fight Hooktail. You're... not serious, are you? I mean, you're not exactly cut out for that... It'll eat you up!"

"I know. But I want to be tougher, so I must do this..."

"No you don't, Fluttershy. I mean, going off to such a dangerous place? It's... dumb. So what if you're timid? And somewhat of a crybaby? I don't care about all that. I just want you to be yourself. So, please don't go..."

Fluttershy knew her mother was very concerned and worried about her. She knew she didn't want to lose both her children. But Fluttershy was going with two brave ponies to help her out, so she made up her mind. This upset the older pegasus mare. She hadn't realized just how much her daughter was so determined and headstrong about this. She accepted defeat and stormed off.

Fluttershy regretted upsetting her mother like that. "I-I'm sorry, mom... I promise, I'll come back to you and dad a stronger pony." She turned to her two new friends. "Um, I guess that's that. Let's go." And with that, the trio set off for Hooktail Castle.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the wait. I actually had this chapter written up for a while, but I was nervous about uploading it. I'm splitting the chapters into at least two parts. Once again, I feel like this doesn't look so good. But I want to keep writing, because it's fun at the same time. Some chapters are probably going to be easier to write than others, trust me ('cause right now, I can't 100% trust myself).

*Now remember: This is an Alternate Universe story. Just because the CMC got their cutie marks in the show now doesn't mean they did here.

**Forsythia is a blind bag pony. I kinda figured I could toss some of those gals in to spice up this story a little.

***Man, I feel awkward putting that in. But just so you know, Zephyr isn't a freeloader in this story. And you might think "Why not just put Fluttershy's dad in Koopley's place instead?" Because he fits in that spot less than Zeph does.


	4. Chapter 1: Castle and Dragonshy Part 2

My Little Pony: The Thousand Year Door: Chapter 1 Part 2

Summary: Princess Twilight Sparkle gets a mysterious map from her mentor, Princess Celestia, telling about an ancient treasure. When Twilight goes to check it out, she finds Princess Celestia has gone missing, so she meets up with seven new friends and stops a large threat to Equestria to find her and the treasure. This story takes place in an AU.

CHAPTER 1: CASTLE AND DRAGONSHY

Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy flew and Applejack trotted to the rocky area of Petal Meadows with the pedestal and the two rocks with holes on them. Twilight placed the stone keys in their proper places and the sun and moon rocks moved to reveal two tandem switches. Then some text appeared on the pedestal in the middle. Twilight went to read it.

 _"Here beginneth the path to dread Hooktail Castle. Weaklings, retreateth! Ye who seeketh to proceed: a power of two must hitteth both switches simultaneously."_

Twilight told AJ and Fluttershy to hit the switches at the same time. Once they did, The pedestal dissapeared and a pipe leading to the castle was revealed. The three traveled through it and reached the entry to the large castle. They looked up at Hooktail Castle before going inside. The place had old, run-down walls and piles of pony bones all over the floor. Nothing to see here, save for another useful badge that Twilight retrieved. She decided to equip it later and the trio went into another room. This one had jail cells and more bones.

As they moved forward, Fluttershy recognized a set of bones by a cell. She recognized them all too well. "Oh... OH, NOOOOO!"

She got closer to the bones and Twilight and AJ followed. "Th-These bones... They remind me of Zephyr Breeze..." Tears formed in the pegasus mare's eyes. "There's... There's no doubt about it! It's him!"

The alicorn and earth ponies felt sympathy for Fluttershy as she sorrowfully cried out her brother's name. Applejack took off her hat and held it by her chest.

After a few minutes, Fluttershy looked at the bones again. Her vision was blurry due to her teary eyes, but she noticed something sticking out of the pile. "Wait, what's this?" She peeked closer and saw a piece of paper. "Twilight! Applejack! Zephyr's clutching some kind of letter. Or at least his...bones are." She picked up the note and turned to the princess, asking her if she should read it. Twilight nodded and Fluttershy began to read the note.

"Ahem..."

"'I came to this castle to destroy Hooktail, but I am stuck and can go no further. So, in this letter, I shall note Hooktail's weaknesses for those who follow. The dread Hooktail cannot tolerate creatures that begin with 'cr' and end with 'icket'. Hidden somewhere in this castle is an item related to Hooktail's weakness. If one is to have any hope of defeating Hooktail, one must first find that item. One last thing: if faced with ultimate doom, the fiend will use any trick to save itself. If you hope to defeat it, do not give in to your kinder nature and fall for its tricks. Alas, I do not have the strength to continue writing... Already, mist veils my eyes... My last words go to my sister, Shutterfly: I love you and I'm proud of who you've become.'"

Fluttershy was confused at that last part. "Shutterfly? Not Fluttershy?"

She felt embarrassed. "Oooooooooooooooooooooooops... Umm... I guess this isn't Zephyr after all..." She then noticed another strange pile of bones, wondering if they were her brother.

The trio moved closer to the other pile of bones. All the bones were creepy, but these bones were especially freaky because they were red and pink. Twilight looked closer and they started to shake and shudder. And speak. **"Blarf harf harf HARF! You clearly don't value your lives much if you've come to this castle to disturb us."**

The girls were surprised. And a little afraid with that sentence.

 **"You will go no farther, and from this moment on... You'll be nothing but bones!"**

Suddenly, a large horde of bone ponies dropped in and shoved the three around. "What in tarnation is goin' on?!" Asked Applejack.

"Ow! Ah, it's no use, Twilight!" Cried Fluttershy. "They're all over us! What do we do?"

"Follow me. We have to get to those Red Bones!" Twilight started to shoot magic beams at the horde to get rid of them. The three soon reached the Red Bones and started to fight it.

Twilight commanded Applejack and Fluttershy to distract the horde while she took care of its leader. The Red Bones threw a bone at the princess and she shot magic at it. She then threw a defense-peircing spell at the bony pony and it was struck down, not moving an inch. Once that happened, the horde ran away.

"Good work, team!" She congratulated. She then noticed Fluttershy clutching some kind of shell.

Applejack noticed it too and asked, "What'cha got there, Fluttershy?"

"Oh, this? This is Tank." A head and four legs popped out of the shell. "He's a tortise. He can help us out in battle."

Fluttershy showed them an example of what Tank could do by shooting him at a lone pile of bones, taking them out instantly.

"Nice!" Twilight commented.

The three moved on. Before going through the door, Twilight spotted a key in a jail cell and retreived it with her magic. In the next room, there were... more bones. But this time, on the other side, there were some platforms, a small staircase, and a locked door. There was also another key, which Twilight picked up. She used one of her two keys to unlock this door and they were in the next room. They poked around this room and found the second locked door upstairs. AJ unlocked it, but Twilight suggested they go through another door she found first. Never hurt to look through every nook and cranny. So they traveled down the stairs and through this door. Nothing much to see here, until Fluttershy found a badge in a jail cell. Twilight picked it up and observed it. This particular badge was circular, red, and had a white music note on it. Twilight looked at a tiny note next to it that read "Wear this badge to change the sound effects of your attacks."

"That's a bit of a strange badge. Y'all gonna equip it, Twi?" Asked Applejack.

"I suppose I should. It might be helpful!"

After Twilight equipped the badge, the ponies trotted back to the previous room and the door the AJ unlocked. They entered and exited the next room and the new room they were in had a large platform and a switch to activate it. Twilight hit the switch and watched as the platform rose up to another level. She started to think. She and Fluttershy could fly up to that level, but then the flightless Applejack couldn't come along. And seeing as how the switch and the platform had an unreachable distance from each other, Twilight came to the conclusion that her new friends should step on the platform (once she lowered it, of course) and she would activate the switch and then fly up to their level. Twilight told the earth pony and pegasus pony about her plan and they put it into action. Once they got to the higher area, they found two doors, one locked, one unlocked. They were out of keys, so they obviously had to go through the unlocked door. They went inside and found lots of treasure chests and another pony snooping around in them. This pony noticed the three come in and turned around. She was a light pinkish-lavender unicorn with a purple and teal mane curled at the ends. She wore red high-heals and a red mask over her cornflower-blue eyes.

"Huh? Oh, my? Who do we have here? I can't believe there are other thieves here besides me. How very strange..."

"Thieves?" AJ asked. "Who are you?"

"Me? Why, I'm the globe-trotting thief, Starlight Glimmer! Heard of me?"

The trio shook their heads.

"I heard there were rare and valuable badges in this castle. That's why I'm here. But the real question is, why are ponies like YOU running around in such a run-down place?"

"We're here to beat the dragon, Hooktail, and retrieve the Element of Kindness." Twilight answered.

"And don't think you'll be gettin' it first!" Said AJ.

"Element of Kindness, you say? Hmm! I didn't know something like THAT was hidden in this castle... How intriguing! Perhaps I just heard something you didn't want me to hear? Heh heh...!"

"Oops..."

"Dagnabbit!"

"Uh-oh..."

"But that's okay. I mean, you were looking for that Element first, and I already found what I was looking for, so I'll let you get that Element of Kindness."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The earth pony asked.

Starlight Glimmer flipped her mane and replied, "It means I must say goodbye for now! I know. It's sad. We just met, and we already have to say farewell."

The masked unicorn teleported to the ledge of an open window and turned to the princess again. "Oh, I almost forgot something I should tell you. Somewhere in this castle is a badge that will help you best Hooktail, or so I've heard. I don't know what kind of badge it is. Maybe you found it already, maybe not. I recommend you find that badge first if you're going to fight that dragon."

Twilight Sparkle checked her badges. She wasn't sure which of her badges was the key to ridding Petal Meadows of Hooktail. She looked up at Starlight, who said her goodbye and hopped out of the castle like a ninja.

The alicorn, earth pony and pegasus looked at each other before moving on to scourer through this new room, looking for a key for the locked door. After peeking inside all the boxes, they found the key. The exited the storage room and traveled across to the locked door, unlocked it, and went through.

After passing through the next few rooms, they appeared to be outside the castle. They looked up at the large room up at the top and saw something in there. If that something was Hooktail, then the trio were almost there! They trotted across the bridge and up the long, swirly staircase until they reached the doors to this large room. Before they went in, Twilight said to Fluttershy, "Alright, we're here. Fluttershy, are you ready? We're about to face the dread Hooktail itself."

Fluttershy looked up at the purple doors. She started to get nervous, but she slowly took a deep breath and replied to Twilight, "...I'm ready."

"Then let's go."

Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Fluttershy opened the large doors and went inside. The doors closed themselves back and an ominous voice spoke out, "Who dares approach me?"

The trio looked up and saw a big red dragon staring back down at them. There it was. Hooktail.

The dragon let out a roar and questioned the three. "Hmm... So... You are friends of the alicorn who came earlier?"

"Hooktail..." They whispered in unison.

"I didn't expect more to come to steal the treasure I protect... Such rashness... That was foolish, I fear. Do you really think you can beat me?"

Twilight stepped up with a determined look on her face.

"But you're so small." Said Hooktail. "And you don't appear tasty. I suppose you might make a good snack. And the bottoms of your hooves smell like they might make a good sauce with some spices. What I'll do is saute you to crispy goodness and gobble you down...HEADFIRST!"

"Not if we have anythin' to say 'bout it!" Said AJ, readying her rear hooves for bucking.

The battle was on! "Snack time, little appetizers! But which one of you morsels should I taste first?"

Twilight Sparkle started off with a beam of magic at Hooktail's face. Her magic made a strange chirping noise once it hit the dragon, which caught her by surprise.

Hooktail started to look sick in the face when it heard the noise. "Bleck! That awful sound! It...sounds like a cricket! How did you know?"

"A cricket?" The three asked.

"Stop that this instant! Urp... I got really bad...ugh...food poisoning once when I ate a cricket. I HATE them!"

"That badge Starlight Glimmer mentioned... Ah think it's the one with the music note... It must've made your magic make that cricket sound!" Said Applejack.

Fluttershy then spoke up. "And that note said that Hooktail's weakness was something that began with 'cr' and ended with 'icket'!"

"We found its weakness!" Twilight cried. "Now it should be much easier to take it down!"

Back into the fight, Fluttershy shot Tank at the dragon's left foot as Applejack bucked the face. After Hooktail blew fire at the trio (and thanks to Twilight's fire shield, they were safe), Twilight flew up to its face and shot down more chirping magic. The dragon gagged at the sound. The trio continued to attack the weakened dragon, though only Twilight's attacks made the cricket noises.

Eventually, the trio beat Hooktail to the point it started to talk to them again. "W-Wait! Hold up a moment! I give up! Please! I won't be so bad anymore. I promise! In fact, I'm sorry! For everything!"

Twilight, AJ and Fluttershy paused for a second.

"Uh... Yeah... To prove it, I'll give you 1,000 bits! What do you say? Can you forgive me?"

"Oh, my... What do we do, Twilight?" Asked Fluttershy.

"Decline its offer. Remember what that note said! It's pulling one of its tricks to save itself! You cannot believe a word it's saying!"

Applejack agreed. "Ah'm with Twilight! Ah personally don't believe any of this mumbo-jumbo!"

Fluttershy looked away. She was a kind pony. A very kind pony. She felt kind of bad about doing this. But since Hooktail, as ponies said, was a vicious and unforgivable dragon, they had to say no to it.

"Keep your bits, fiend!" Shouted Twilight.

"What? You must be joking! You don't need any bits?"

"We ain't acceptin' anythin' yer offerin', Hooktail!" Yelled Applejack.

The dragon made a couple more offers, such as giving Twilight a rare, extra-special badge, to even letting her take a whiff of its rich, delicate and world-renowned feet. Twilight sternly declined both offers, even gagging at the second one.

"You aren't very trusting mares, are you? It's important to be able to trust someone, you know."

"We do know! But not if they're as dishonest and crafty as you!" The princess called out.

The dragon quickly resorted to knocking out the ponies, though Fluttershy and Tank got away. Once she looked back, she saw Twilight and Applejack knocked unconcsious. The dragon laughed evilly and Fluttershy became very upset. How dare it do that to her friends! "How DARE you!"

She grabbed Twilight's cricket badge and placed it on Tank's shell and faced Hooktail. She not only used her tortise to attack with his shell and cricket sounds, sickening and weakening the dragon, she also bucked at it until it was almost done for. Before she delivered her final blow, Fluttershy said, "Twilight, Applejack... Zephyr Breeze... This one's for you."

After one last toss of Tank's shell, Hooktail was beaten. Fluttershy confronted the weakened dragon. "I am very sorry for what I had to do, Hooktail. But first you take my brother, and now my friends! We've all had enough of your problems and they had to be stopped!"

"B-But... I... I... GURK! How? Why? There's still so much I wanted to do with my life... So many meals..." And with that, Hooktail was finally defeated.

Fluttershy looked away and cringed as the dragon fell over. When she looked back, she saw the dragon laying on its back, not moving a muscle. She had to be honest, she kind of regretted having to beat it like that. Hooktail could've been a nice dragon, but unfortunately, it was the type one couldn't reason with. From the corner of her eye, the pegasus mare saw her new friends trying to get up. She immediately rushed to help them up. "Are you girls okay?!" She asked.

"W-We're... okay, Fluttershy. Thank you." Twilight moaned.

"Did... Did we stop Hooktail?" Asked Applejack.

The trio looked at Hooktail, still lying there.

"Ah suppose that answers mah question."

"Now all we have to do is find the Element of Kindness." Said Twilight.

The trio heard Hooktail groan. They looked up at it and saw it spit out something. Actually, it was somepony. It was a lightish-green pegasus stallion with a blond mane (and he wore it up in a man-bun for some reason). "YAAAAAAAAAAH! I'm out! I'm finally out!" He cried.

Fluttershy grew wide-eyed. She knew this pony. "It... It can't be!"

This stallion turned to the mare. "Eh?"

"Ze... ZEPHYR BREEZE?!" Fluttershy trotted to Zephyr.

"Hey! You're... You're Fluttershy! Hey, big sis! You haven't changed a bit!"

"What happened to you? Where have you been all this time?"

"Well, I came here a while back to deal with Hooktail, and all was well and good, but just before my finishing blow, it played a trick on me and gobbled me down whole. I've been hiding inside Hooktail's belly for the six years since then! And boy, was it nasty! Yuck! I'm so glad to finally get out!"

"Honestly, Zephyr... Don't you know how worried we all were about you? For six whole years we all thought you had...you know, we thought your game was over!"

"Oh, sorry, big sis, but... I'm okay! That's good, right? We're together now, right? Hey, speaking of which... What are you three doing here, anyway?"

"Oh, come on now, Zeph. I came here to defeat Hooktail, who's been wreaking havoc in town."

Twilight Sparkle stepped up and said, "And Applejack and I are looking for a gem called the Element of Kindness."

"...Element of Kindness?" Zephyr asked. "This wouldn't be what you're talking about, would it?"

The pegasus stallion pulled out a pink, rupee-shaped gem and showed it to the princess. It sparkled and shimmered. "What's THAT?" Fluttershy questioned.

"I found it down there in Hooktail's belly. Nice, huh? I kept it as a souvenir." Zephyr then turned to Twilight. "So... this is the thing you're looking for?"

Twilight and AJ nodded. Fluttershy nodded slowly after them.

Zephyr smiled. "Perfect! Just perfect! You can have it!"

"We can?" AJ asked.

"Come now! I won't take no for an answer. You're Fluttershy's friends. Please take it!"

Twilight smiled gleefully and took the Element from Zephyr's hoof.

Twilight Sparkle got the Element of Kindness!

END OF CHAPTER

Twilight Sparkle and friends finally got an Element of Harmony in the castle after defeating Hooktail. Fluttershy even reunited with her long-lost brother, Zephyr Breeze, whom she thought was dead. Yet they were unable to learn anything about the whereabouts of Princess Celestia. Where could she be? Yes... Princess Twilight Sparkle's adventure has only just begun.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, how was that? Again, I ended up copying the exact dialogue from someone. Zephyr Breeze said the exact same things Koopley said in the game! But to be honest, I tried reading all that dialogue in Zeph's voice and they don't sound too bad. But I feel like putting on an OOC (Out Of Character) warning for the rest of the story. Such a shame, too. I've been with this show for seven years and I know practically everypony's characters! Oh well. Stay tuned for chapter 2!


End file.
